


Little R&R (Repair and Relaxation), A

by fireflysglow_archivist



Category: Firefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-10-24
Updated: 2002-10-24
Packaged: 2019-04-29 10:05:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14470320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireflysglow_archivist/pseuds/fireflysglow_archivist
Summary: Wash and Kaylee head to a repair depot on the Outer Rim for some repairs and fun.





	Little R&R (Repair and Relaxation), A

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).

 

A Little R&R(Repair and Relaxtion)

## A Little R&R(Repair and Relaxtion)

### by Radworld

It was a rare treat for Wash taking the Serenity to the repair depot in the outer ring of the galaxy. The ship was quiet with only Kaylee and he allowed to make the run. Their recent outlaw status had mad the group of them easily identified in places with notorious reputations for selling people out on bounties in exchange for fuel or parts. He and Kaylee would blend in far easier to the crowd of pilots and mechs. Mal, Zoe and Jayne would stick out as like deceleration brake on a falling ship. They'd be picked up in the first hour and sold off to the alliance. And Simon and Book they'd be lucky to make it off the ship before being robbed or taken in a confidence scam. Yeah the depot was dirty, smelly and you constantly had to on your toes looking for deal or scam. Aside from the Serenity in short it was the closest thing that Wash had to a "home". He loved it. The bars were full of stories impossible to believe until the pilot or mech began rattling off the specs of the ship or the part that performed such a feat. 

But the trip there was almost as fun. The three days it would take would allow Kaylee and Wash a chance to crank old rock and roll and country music over the ships PA system. While the music blared out into the cosmos they took a careful inventory of the ships parts and ran diagnostics on all of her systems. At night they would break out a bottle of Mal's hidden whiskey. Mal would always expect to find the Serenity light 3 or 4 bottles of his whiskey after one of their maintenance runs and considered it as just part of the price of having a good crew. They would sit in the Serenity's cockpit watching the stars trail by as they figured out what they need to refit or improve on the ship. Their budget was extremely tight this time and some creative trading would need to get done. It was comparable to a couple of kids going through their baseball card collections with "got it, got it, want it, NEED IT! got it, got it. Wash used to really love these trips to the outer rim but since his marriage Zoe it had become bittersweet. He still loved the trip and the tech talk but there was always the pang of missing her. Normally he tried to be upbeat about life but this was something new. Something he hadn't counted on when he took the vow. Jokingly he told her "Well what do you know I DO have feelings...Who would've thunk?" It was a joke at the time but like with most his jokes there was a hint of pained truth to it. Feeling for someone was never in his equation before. He had never figured it into his life plan. As if his life had ever had a plan aside from making his next hop. His greatest joy before meeting Zoe was the sound of all 5 of the Serenity's engines firing in unison. But Zoe...Zoe was different. Her love hit him in the face like a shovel. It spun his universe around...and he loved the ways that shovel felt. He thought of all of this as the Serenity's engines hummed along and he stared deep out past the windows into the further reaches of space. 

"Hey..." it was Kaylee. "You're thinking about Zoe aren't you?" Wash blushed he didn't like being caught in these mushy `love' moments. "Uh....No! In fact I was wondering if Mal has moved his whiskey hiding spot." Slyly Kaylee pulled out a bottle out from behind her back and to short glasses and poured them high with the potent liquid. "AH...My stomach was wanting dinner. Silly stomach!" he laughed as he snatched the glass from her hand. She giggled as she flopped down into the co pilots chair. "It must be nice...'love'". She said with a distant look of her own. "I'd recommend it but it's hard on the heart...a lot like this whiskey" he said as he grimaced and slugged down another swallow. "Are you sure you didn't get this from the hydraulics? Yish...Aye-choi!" Kaylee smiled "You'll be changing your tune after the third glass of this stuff." He joined her in the laugh, which slowly died back down and the sound of Serenity's engine hum returned to the cockpit. After a few minutes and a few system checks he glanced over at Kaylee. Who now took her turn gazing out into space. She was changing from a girl to a woman. He barely noticed they spent so much time together it was like watching a daisy grow. The first time you see it its just a little tender sprig and after awhile you look again and it's grown and beautiful. He never thought of her in a romantic it way. She was too much like a sister to him. Their mother being this ship Serenity. Really the ship was a mother to them all. Giving rebirth and a new beginning to each of them. "It must be nice to be missed...I wonder what its like?" Wash cocked his eyebrow, as he looked up from the system display "Anything you want to talk about?" "NO! Definitely not!" she said sharply quickly changing her pensive mood. "This is supposed to be our time! Our time to drink all night and swap jokes...Our time to moon passenger ships and outpost technicians...Our time to wear the same clothes for 3 days straight...". "OUR TIME TO PEE WITH THE SEAT DOWN!" Wash shouted. "Oh...EWWW!" retorted Kaylee. "Ok maybe its not quite that time yet...In the meantime lets go over our parts list." He said punching up his display. They snickered, filling their glasses again and began running through their lists. 

* * *

Chapter 2 

"Affirmative, `Bad Whiskey' you are cleared for landing a repair/refueling bay 94." A controllers voiced crackled over the Serenity's radio. 

"'Bad Whiskey'" questioned Kaylee  


"Call it...inspiration" quipped Wash waving one arm over his head dramatically as he slid his chair back to the ships navigational controls from the radio station. 

"I call it a bad hang over." Kaylee said with a smile. 

"I tell you the ship tags that Jayne provided have come through on more than one occasion." 

"Well that's about twice as many times that thug has come through. Are you good the plan once we touch down?" 

"Oh it's good" the tousled haired pilot said "....Arrange a fuel purchase. Trade up some oxygen converters and power converters a few quick hands of poker and we are out of here by daybreak. If either one of us gets in trouble hit the alarm on your personal radio". He said as he deftly applied the braking thrusters. 

"I thought Zoe said "no poker"" Kaylee questioned. 

"Actually she said `I don't want to hear about you playing poker'. So in fact it is an order to YOU not to say ANYTHING. It's all in the interpretation..." The freighter softly touched down on the planets surface. 

"Any chance someone spotted us coming in?" Kaylee winced. 

"Not a chance...we came in at night and the Serenity looks like a typical freighter. And if folks round here started looking up at the ships coming in they might never look down again". 

They began walking towards the outer cargo door as the vacuum seal of the ship opened. And a rush of warm, humid, fuel smelling air smacked them in the face. "Oh I think I smell money!" giggled Wash as he danced down the runway. "Yeah? Ours or theirs?" Kayle hollered after him but it was too late he had rounded the corner and was down the street and out of sigh before you knew it. Wash...Marriage had changed him in a good way but deep down he was the same old 12 year old he'd always been. Wash was right...this place as noisy filthy and smelly as it was really was a vacation spot for the likes of them. She tugged on a mech cap tight and headed off into the streets of filled with stalls and shops for parts vendors. If it had engine and a part that could fall off, rust or be shot off this was the place were it could be found, bought and fixed. She had a long list the recent train job and sabotage by Mal's nefarious wife had left the serenity hurting. So many times as she had been patching the Serenity she had promised the ship the bright and shiny parts she was going to retool her with if only she held on a little longer. She cursed herself how much longer could she afford to patch Serenity's hurts with promises and hope. Mal would need to find them a bigger score soon if they wanted to have a ship to do shipping jobs. Funds have been so short that lately Mal, Wash and Kaylee had all forgone their shares in order barely refit the essentials. Only the 3 of them really new what kind of trouble they could be in for if they encountered any trouble in the future. Stress cracks were starting to find their way into some of the strongest part of the ship. Welding plates over them aren't going to keep working they needed replacement. This was not that kind of run this was strictly a tubes and wire run. But she was always on the look out for a bargain at the very least to talk a dealer into holding a part for her until she could get the money. Had her worries not gotten the best of her she may have noticed that someone was tailing her. 

The door of the bar had swung wide as Wash stepped through exclaiming "There is no mistaking a bar like Lonigans!!!" 

"'Cept this ain't Lonigans no more." Grumbled the stout man behind the bar as he chawed his cigar. 

"Pardon me? Its been Lonigans bar for nearly 9 years...I been coming here even before I was allowed to be I n this bar. "Lonnigans" is a name of history...why I ran from my first fight in this bar!" railed Wash 

"Well, like I said it's not Lonigans...He lost it in a poker game. The place is called `Smileys' now. "the man behind the bar seem to grow more irritated by Wash's behavior. 

"Smileys!!!??? Smileys? What a dumb name for a bar..." the bar keeps brow furrowed even more as Wash realized..."unless your name...is...Smiley. Oh...crap". 

* * *

Chapter 3 

The man tailing Kaylee was good. She hadn't noticed him at all until the flat nub of his revolver dug into her side as he took a firm hold of her arm. "You'll want to come along quietly with me. I'm sure you would rather not attract any alliance attention." She already knew before he had to look. Bounty hunter. They were more abundant here than any other planet in the system. Many times they were captains doing whatever they could to fund a repair on ship so they could get off this rock. It was the dirty secret of this place many of the mechs and pilots were nearly indentured servants here. Doing whatever they could to pay off their docking fees for ships that would never leave the planet at least not under their command. They would slowly trade off parts until they would finally take a loan off some underworld boss...then they would try to slip out under the cover of night and usually be killed in the process. It was almost a math equation. So that's who this guy was most likely. Some down on his luck captain. She found it hard to hate him for it...but the gun in her side helped. She could easily see Mal, Wash and her all in a similar situation. Maybe that's what scared her even more than the gun. But above all...he was right she'd rather take her chances with him than some Alliance major who'd be out to make a name by busting part of the Mal's crew and grabbing their ship. Oh god...if they grab the ship. Oh god...Oh god. Might as well shoot me now because Mal would certainly do it if he lost that ship. Luckily...her captor had made his move in a fairly public place and with her hand already in her pocket. Her communicator. Wash. Pray that he's sober. She began tapping the "alert" button. 

Meanwhile across the depot. Wash's communicator began to flash. This would have been all well and good if it was on him. In fact it was slung over the back his chair at a poker table covered with all sorts of denominations of cash, several parts receipts and in one small blue folder supposedly the radio frequency of the command circle of the alliance. Wash tilted back in his chair...savoring his cigar. Smiley...well, Smiley was sweating if his luck kept up the bars name would be "Wash's" soon. Smiley made his play...3 queens. Wash's eyes flashed with surprise. A wide grin spread across Smileys sparse toothed mouth. "OH...that beats my 2 pair. But did I happen to mention they were 2 pair of Aces! That's right 4 Aces...Good night!" He stood and reached for his vest and immediately saw it flashing. Oh no...how long had it been going off? Kaylee...was in trouble. He was on the streak of his life and Kaylee could be hurt...kidnapped. Anything. He began scooping up his winnings he'd knew he'd need them if there was one thing that was better than a gun here it was cash he stuffed a pile of receipts in his pocket. These prepaid items could be picked up later. He zipped the frequency book in his pocket. He doubted the codes would work but they passed a few outposts on the way here and it would be good for a joke on the way home. He cursed himself and hurried past a flustered Smiley who sat spitting out a stream of obscenities and protestations about cheating. Wash pushed past him and out into the smoky streets. Dawn was coming. What should he do? He rubbed his hand through his greasy, red, mop hair. What should he do? Try to pick up a lead from one of the stores Kaylee was supposed to stop at. Should he get back and check on the ship and try to get a message to Mal. Or should he try contacting some of the shadier types of this town and hope to buy some information or even hire a gun. Lets face it. Wash was a pilot. Mal, Zoe and Jayne they were the action types, he was the fly in and get the hell out type. He thought that he should get back to the ship and try to get a message to Mal. He had a few pilot friends that were headed in Mal's direction and they could get word to them. He could figure out the rest after that. 

Continued in Chapter 4 

#### If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Radworld


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